The hit movie "Sully" has made a big late-summer splash at the box office. It shows then-U.S. Airways Captain Chesley Sullenberger's safe landing in 2009 on the Hudson River in New York after birds struck both engines.

The movie has renewed focus on how airport staffs around the country, including at Kansas City International Airport, are trying to reduce bird strikes.

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The Federal Aviation Administration requires most major airports to control wildlife populations that could cause potential catastrophes with animals hitting planes.

At KCI, USDA wildlife biologist Trevor Kahler spends every day figuring out the best ways to keep birds, deer, and other animals near the airport away from planes.

Since starting his role in 2012, he has used small, noisy pyrotechnics to harass flocks of birds away from the airport. Nine traps around the airfield also help Kahler trap bigger birds of prey to eventually release 30 to 50 miles away.

"A one-pound bird at the speeds a plane is going is going to have 2.5 tons of force," Kahler said.

In 2015, KCI reported 122 small bird strikes. If that sounds high, consider nearly 120,000 planes take off and land each year at KCI.

The only damaging strike happened in November 2015 with greater white-fronted geese, away from the airport, according to airport spokesman Joe McBride. The plane landed safely. The airport has a policy to report 100 percent of strikes, McBride said.

Since 1997, Kansas City's Aviation Department has contracted with USDA to control wildlife hazards.

Over the years, KCI staff members have removed several ponds and trees, improved drainage to avoid standing water, and treated grass on the airfield with zinc phosphide to reduce rodent population.

Kahler and other staff members also check perimeter fencing to make sure deer cannot make it onto taxiways and runways.